-Space, CE74-
The blue Nazca-class ship hovered in port as four mobile suits were loaded on board. The mechanics watched as this happened, two ZAKUs, a GINN and a white GOUF Ignited. "A GINN, don't see many reds using them anymore, it's usually ZAKUs and GOUFs now" one of the green clad men said and several of his co-workers nodded in agreement. On board the ship, three red uniformed ZAFT soldiers stood before an older man wearing a black uniform and a crimson haired man in a white uniform.
"I am Captain Richard Phillips, the commanding officer of this vessel" the black-clad man spoke in a loud voice. "This man is Commander Aston Falcon, a member of the FAITH Special Forces and this ship's ace pilot" he continued, motioning to the crimson haired man.
"Let me see if I have this correct, your names are Lucian Williams, Marcel North and Garret Kross correct?" Aston asked, looking to each of the three red pilots. Each of the pilots confirmed their names and saluted their superior. "Shall we tell them our mission Captain?" the Commander asked, looking to Richard who nodded in response.
"I'm sure you've all heard of the 'revolutionist' group known as Purity correct?" Richard asked and the three pilots nodded. "Well it seems lately they've been taking a more aggressive stance and have been attacking small colonies. The mission of this ship, the Bayonet, and its crew is to assist those colonies who have fallen under Purity attack and restore order" Captain Phillips explained.
"I want you all to board your machines. The three of you are going to compete in a free-for-all practice match to get used to each other's fighting styles. This will help you work better together as a team" Aston spoke, looking between each of his subordinates, his eyes lingering on Garret slightly longer than the other two. The three red uniformed soldiers saluted the Commander and departed from the bridge.
"So what's your deal Mr. Depression?" Lucian remarked, looking at Garret. The blonde pilot remained silent, his emotionless eyes watching the floor as he walked. "What, not gonna talk? I asked you a question dammit!" Lucian said loudly, stepping ahead of Garret and slamming his fist into the wall, blocking the other pilot's path.
"L…Lucian, I don't think this is a good idea…" Marcel stuttered, trying to get between the two pilots.
"Shut it Marcel! I ain't gonna have this guy ignoring us for no reason and those zombie eyes of his just piss me off" Lucian snapped, glaring straight at Garret. "Not to mention, did you see the way that Commander Falcon guy was looking at him, there's somethin' goin' on there that we aren't getting told. I want answers blondie!" Lucian yelled. Garret's eyes looked up at Lucian and stared at him.
"I don't see why I should have to tell you anything, I have no intentions of becoming your friendly comrade" Garret said coldly, staring straight into Lucian's eyes. "Now get out of my way, we have things to do" the blonde pilot spoke, pushing past Lucian and heading to the hangar.
"Dammit, I'm gonna punch that guy square in the face!" Lucian roared as he pulled on his pilot suit.
"Lucian… would you just calm down. Clearly something happened to him, why can't you just leave him be?" Marcel sighed as he zipped up his own suit.
"Shut it, I'm goin' out there and I'm kick his little blonde ass into next week!" Lucian yelled, flying out of the locker room.
"Man you have anger issues…" Marcel said quietly, following his friend.
"Captain, I'm ready to launch" Garret spoke as he finished prepping his GINN.
"Head out and await the two ZAKUs" Captain Phillips said and Garret's mobile suit was moved to the catapult. Garret closed the visor of his helmet and watched as the lights of the catapult lit up.
"GINN, clear for launch" a female voice spoke and a brunette girl's face appeared on Garret's screen. The blonde pilot nodded and gripped his controls.
"This is Garret Kross, in the GINN, soar!" he called and his mobile suit shot of the Bayonet and flew out of the dock into space. Garret came to a stop and drew his machine gun as he watched the two ZAKUs launched. Garret also noticed a white GOUF launch from the ship, he knew it was Aston.
"All of your guns have been loaded with paint rounds and your physical weapons have been replaced with training ones. I will observe the fight from here, if you take a fatal attack then you must withdraw to the Bayonet" Aston explained. He ordered the fight to begin and one of the ZAKUs flew at Garret.
"So you're in that one…" Garret commented, drawing his sword.
"I'll kick your ass first!" Lucian said eagerly, firing a barrage of paint rounds at the GINN. The mobile suit boosted to the side and avoided the attack but made no attempt at a counterattack. "Too chicken to fight me?!" Lucian called, drawing his training tomahawk and boosting at Garret. He swung his tomahawk from the left in a horizontal strike at the GINN's waist, causing Garret to start to move. Lucian smirked and quickly flicked his weapon up.
"Too predictable" Garret commented. He quickly clashed the blade of his sword into that of Lucian's tomahawk and then pointed his machine gun at the ZAKU's cockpit. He pulled the trigger and a single red paint round splattered across the cockpit of the green machine.
"Lucian, return to the ship" Aston spoke, seeing the shot.
"Dammit!" Lucian yelled, throwing his tomahawk away and flying towards the Bayonet. "Take him out Marcel" the black haired pilot grumbled.
"Thought this was supposed to be a free-for-all… I feel like I'm being ganged up on" Garret remarked, turning to Marcel who had stood idly by and watched him and Lucian fight.
"Look, sorry about Lucian. I thought I'd just let him get his rage out on you, he's not normally like that" Marcel commented, taking aim at Garret.
"Frankly, I don't really care. I'm here to fight, not to make friends" Garret spoke. With that comment he closed the communication and boosted forward at Marcel. The two clashed blows for a minute or two before Garret got the better of Garret, feinting a shot at the ZAKU with his gun and then quickly smashing the blade of his training sword into Marcel's cockpit.
"Marcel, you're out. Both of you head back to the ship" Aston ordered and he followed the two mobile suits back to the Bayonet.
-Earth, CE75-
"Wow, that sounds nothing like you two now" Hilde commented, surprised by the story.
"Haha yeah, Garret was an ass back then" Marcel said with a wide grin.
"I think I had a pretty valid reason…" Garret said quietly.
"Oh right, that must have been just after Cecil… Yeah now I can see why you acted like that" Marcel said with a nod of understanding.
"Were you really that timid and polite back then Marcel? It seems really different to how you act now" Hilde pointed out.
"Haha yeah, I guess I've changed a bit" Marcel said, his face turning red.
"Those were the easy days" Victoria said with a smile. "Back then, I don't think any of us knew how deep we'd get into this" she continued.
"True that. But I guess there's no turning back now, we just have to fight and end this as soon as possible" Garret said, staring at his hand as he held it in the air. "I just want to go back to a normal life after all this, I'm sick of this fighting" he sighed.
"You guys… you're all lucky" Hilde said, a tear forming in her right eye. "After this, you all have normal lives back to if you choose… I have nothing" she said quietly, looking at the floor.
"You could always come with us" Victoria said with her usual motherly smile. Hilde looked up and gazed at the three smiling faces that watched her.
"Are you… serious?" she asked, fighting to hold back tears. Victoria, Marcel and Garret all nodded and a large smile crossed Hilde's face. "Thank you, all of you" she said.
The Ceres proceeded to Orb without any further Purity interference. Upon arrival the ship was docked at Onogoro Island and the pilots and officers of the ship were summoned to meet with the country's leader. Richard, Aston and the four pilots proceeded to a large outside area where three people stood waiting for them.
The first was a tall man with long blonde hair. He wore an Earth Force admiral uniform and the ZAFT soldiers could see a number of large scars on his face. Next to him was a young woman who stood much shorter than him. She too had blonde hair that hung just past her shoulders and wore a formal, purple outfit. On her other side was a young man almost as tall as the blonde man. He wore an Orb military uniform and his blue hair hung on his shoulders.
The pilots saw their superiors salute the three people as they approached and quickly did the same. Their greeting was returned and Richard shook hands with the young woman. "My name is Cagalli Yula Athha, I am Orb's leader" she spoke.
"I am Captain Richard Phillips of the ZAFT ship Ceres. It is an honor to meet you" Captain Phillips spoke in response. "These are members of my crew, go ahead and introduce yourselves" he said, motioning to the other ZAFT soldiers.
"Commander Aston Falcon, member of FAITH Special Forces and pilot of the Sword Calamity Gundam" the crimson haired man spoke.
"Marcel North, pilot of the Chaos Gundam" Marcel said with a small bow.
"Victoria Mays, pilot of the Strike Gundam" Victoria spoke, her tone slightly nervous.
"Hilde Regent, pilot of the Saviour Gundam" the purple haired pilot said.
"Garret Kross, pilot of the Duel Gundam" Garret said, looking between the three people greeting them.
"It is a pleasure to meet you all, I'll let these two men introduce themselves" Cagalli responded, letting the two men with her step forward.
"My name is Mu La Flaga, I'm an Admiral in the Earth Alliance Forces and pilot a mobile suit called the Perfect Strike Gundam. I'll be leading the Anti-Purity Squad" the blonde man spoke, nodding to each of the ZAFT soldiers. He turned to the blue haired young man and motioned him forward.
"Admiral Athrun Zala, I'm in charge in Orb's military" the blue haired young man spoke, bowing slightly.
"Athrun Zala?! The legendary ace pilot from the last two wars?" Marcel blurted out, attracting glares from Captain Phillips, Aston and Cagalli. "I… I'm sorry" he quickly said with a fast bow.
"If you don't mind, I don't think we can really afford to waste much time here. After all, there are reports of Purity forces heading this way" Admiral La Flaga spoke, looking between everyone around him.
"Yes, I agree. Would you like to go introduce them to the others?" Cagalli asked, looking at Mu.
"Yes, I think that would be a good start" Mu replied.
"Very well. I'm sorry this was so short, but Admiral Zala and I really must get going, I hope we get a chance to catch up later on" Cagalli spoke. The ZAFT pilots all saluted as the Cagalli and Athrun walked away.
"Please follow me" Admiral La Flaga said, leading the ZAFT pilots to one of the island's docks where a large aircraft carrier was docked. "This ship is the Izanami. It is in the same class as a ship used in the last war called the Takemikazuchi" Mu explained. He approached a soldier standing near the ramp leading to the ship. "Please get Wolf, Schwarzlang and Thompson down here immediately" he said and the soldier quickly ran onto the ship.
"I'm assuming they're the other pilots selected for this squad?" Aston asked, looking at the EAF Admiral.
"Yes, that is correct. They're all very competent pilots who have been selected for this mission. I can personally vouch for their skills having seen them fight first-hand" Mu replied. The group waited a few minutes until three people approached them from the Izanami.